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Sarah Austin
Sarah Marie Austin (formerly known as Sarah Meyers) is an American video blogger, social media advisor, and online lifecaster. Austin interviews tech-oriented developers and Internet personalities. The New York Times has referred to her as a central figure in the emerging subculture of New York techie night life, and has described her as "the founder of Pop17, a web site posting her video interviews with tech-world celebrities" Career Austin was a tech news producer and DJ for three years at UC Berkeley’s radio station, KALX 90.7 FM. She moved onto video with Party Crashers, a D7tv series in which she crashed Silicon Valley parties. She was kicked out of the TechCrunch 7 party in 2006, but the following year she was invited to TechCrunch 8. For D7tv, she attended events like the Yahoo! Christmas party and the Vegas Music Conference. Also in 2006, she appeared as an actress in the horror film Blur, which was directed by Nick Briscoe and released in 2007. Like Paul Krassner, Austin combines legitimate news coverage with personal journalism and prankster activities. During the summer of 2007, she collaborated with Gizmodo videographer Richard Blakeley on a short video, "Optimus Prime Refused Service". Wearing an Optimus Prime helmet, she pulled into a McDonald's drive-through and placed an order but got no service. Her video found a sizable audience on YouTube and other sites, and was featured in an ABC News report in July 2007. During the spring of 2007, Austin was chosen as a participant in the closed beta test of Justin.tv, and lifecasted for them. In August 2007, she moved to New York where she continued to lifecast, covering events like the Halo 3 launch, the Ground Zero Memorial service, New York Fashion Week, New York's Comic Book Club, and staged meet-ups with other lifecasters. She also livecasted from various locations around New York City. She covered Maker Faire 2007 in Austin, Texas. In the summer of 2008, she reported on the Jeff Koons sculptures on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art Roof Garden. After three years in New York City, she returned to Berkeley and became a social media adviser for Real Time Matrix. Since 2008, Austin has produced a weekly on-line news program and blog called Pop17, which offers reports and opinions on "the new cultural phenomenon of online micro-celebrity". Ignite Social Media has included her in their ranking of five women covering New Media on the Internet, stating that "Sarah's entertaining posts are both thought-provoking and relevant while still being charming. Think the girl you sat next to in art class meets a successful online presence". On Pop17, Austin has interviewed people like Leonardo DiCaprio, Orlando Bloom, Richard Branson and Steve Wozniak. She has appeared on CNBC, CBS News, and ABC News. In 2008, she appeared on Donny Deutsch's The Big Idea. She has been a lifecaster on Justin.tv, and some of her videos have been displayed on YouTube. Since 2009, Austin has been a correspondent for the Better television series, where she explained topics and trends regarding social media. She has been a regular source for social media news for the G4TV network, which has viewed her as a leading tech expert. In Dan Schawbel's' book Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success, Austine was profiled in a chapter of "success stories". Schawbel referred to her as a "brand commander" and describes her as "a successful online celebrity video producer". She was featured on the front cover of the May 2009 issue of Personal Branding magazine. During the latter half of 2009, Austin was one of the 100 Ford Fiesta Movement agents, and was granted use of a pre-release 2011 Ford Fiesta for six months to promote it using social media.